Happy New Year

We ended the year with a mostly clear and sunny day. We took a long drive in the country. We hadn't exactly planned to do so but youngest son had locked his keys in his truck at work and we, who have the extra key, went to the rescue. 

We also went for a lovely walk around the lake.  The resident pair of Bald Eagles were sitting together in a tall tree.  A Great Blue Heron was standing in the shallow water's edge very close to the path. 

                                                      picture off the internet


We don't go out on New Year's Eve, choosing to spend a quiet evening in the comfort of our home.
I'm leaving all the decorations up until Epiphany. It always looks so bare once everything is put away.

                                           May 2019 be a wonderful year for you!


   
        Thanks for visiting,  

Christmas Eve

It's almost here, the days we've been waiting for, preparing for. My wish for each and every one of you is that you have a happy Christmas  however you celebrate it. May you be blessed.

This last picture may or may not be the train from Polar Express but it brings to  mind my experience. We saw the movie in an I-Max theatre and I got so motion sick that I had to keep my eyes shut for parts of it and for hours after we exited the theatre I still felt sick to my stomach. I have not risked another I-Max movie since.

Thanks for visiting,

     Granny Marigold

Wind Storm and a Visit

We had powerful winds come through the area taking out trees and causing no end of power outages. We were fortunate in avoiding both but our next door neighbour was not. He had several of his very old tall evergreen tress removed last year. Now one of the remaining three broke off quite high up and came crashing down on his house actually breaking through the dining room ceiling. Those  trees have made me uneasy every time we have high winds because they are so close to our house. Now we're hoping he'll have these last trees removed as well.

We walked in the park this morning and lots of branches down there too.  Crews were out in full force cleaning up.

On a brighter note our daughter Sheila invited us over last evening to see her pretty tree and other decorations.  This is the first Christmas that she and her son ( our oldest GS) are in their condo.

     The tiny stocking is for Stella, the cat. The stocking on the right is one I sewed for S  close to    
      40 years ago.

She served us yummy snacks including the Panettone  which I had not tasted before. I believe it is Italian fruit bread traditionally made at this time of the year. I really liked the flavour.
Note to self-----  try making it.

Thanks for taking the time to come by.
Granny M.

This and That

It's been raining a lot and the porch continues to have water dripping in spite of all efforts to locate and fix the problem.

We managed to get a walk in between showers. Just used my umbrella briefly. We did encounter the Scotsman in his fancy Scottish outfit. Said Good Morning to which he said something inaudible.

I baked more cookies, this time chocolate/ chocolate chip. I'm ready to start filling gift tins of goodies.

I went to the library to return some books and picked up three I had requested.

Time to think of supper. I hope your day was a happy one.

Thanks for coming by,  G.M.

Around the House

Not much is happening around the house so I'll just post a few pictures and wish you a wonderful day.

Thanks for visiting,


Granny M.

Amaryllis

My Amaryllis "Nymph" is opening. So far two open flowers and a number of buds. It's not as showy as the red ones ( which are dormant right now)  but pretty nevertheless.

 Relax and have a great week!!

Thanks for visiting, please leave a comment so I know you came by. Even just 'HI' will do.


Granny M.

A Prayer for Advent

Holy Child, whom shepherds and kings and dumb beasts adored, be born again,
Wherever there is boredom, wherever there is fear of failure,
wherever there is fear of temptation too strong to resist,
 wherever there is bitterness of heart, come thou Blessed  One
with healing in your wings.

Have a wonderful Sunday,

Granny Marigold

A Birthday and a Blustery Day

It's a very blustery evening. Storm warnings and alerts given. DH has made sure the little generator is ready for action should the power fail.

Today is my DH's 76th birthday. I baked a cake this morning early just in case the winds came up. All day we've had phone calls and visits from our children.  Tomorrow several are taking him out for breakfast.  We're so fortunate to live close to our family.

I'm not taking any chances with the wind howling around the house. I'm going to publish this right away.

Thanks for coming by,   GM

Books

Last year I got this book from the library and I liked it so much I requested it again this year.
I enjoy Rosamunde Pilcher's books a lot and love to read about her childhood memories.

I always seem to be reading three books at a time and so I'll show you the other two I'm currently reading.   I'm still looking for my old copy Of Wind in the Willows because I know it has nicer illustrations.

This book is one I saw mentioned on the blog  Boyett-Brinkly and I'm very much enjoying it but it's not for the squeamish.  Sarah, the main character is one tough cookie and deals with some hard times.

For a change of pace I took out these very old Christmas carol booklets. I'm not sure why this picture came up sideways but it doesn't matter much.

Do you find time to read in the midst of all the things you have to do? 

Thanks for visiting,   G.

M.

Savory Cheddar Scones

The following recipe comes from a recipe blog that some of you are familiar with and others will love once they discover it. The blog is called Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

I saw this recipe and gave it a try . Of course I made changes ( no one is surprised). 

Savory Cheddar Scones:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup coarsely grated cheddar cheese
• 1 teaspoon dill weed
• 1 Tablespoon finely snipped chives

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. (If using a cast iron skillet..pre-heat greased pan.)
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt...cut in butter to form pea-sized pieces.
3. Add grated cheddar and herbs (of your choice).
4. Mix eggs and buttermilk and quickly add them to the flour mixture.
5. Combine just until blended.
6. Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead a few times.
7. Pat into a circle about 1 inch thick...in my case, to fit my 12" cast iron skillet.
8. Cut into 8 wedges and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or in a cast iron skillet.
9. Pop into the pre-heated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.

The key to light and fluffy scones is to handle the dough as little as possible. I used buttermilk, but you can substitute whole milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice.  These are quick and easy and so fun to serve from a cast iron skillet!  Pop the extra scones into the freezer and re-heat to serve 'fresh' scones tomorrow (or the tomorrow after that) 

Below is the photo of my efforts. Basically I did follow their instructions except that I added sausage that I had precooked and also more cheese than was called for. I put the extra on top. I used Farmer Sausage but any sausage you like will do only make sure it is done enough so it won't release too much grease.

Another addition I made was of a large onion, finely chopped, and lightly sauteed in some butter. I added this to the batter.

DH and 2 of my sons have eaten some and find it very tasty BUT here are their recommendations.

It's too thick. Next time make it in 2 pans or one pan plus a few regular biscuit/scones.

The sausage needs to be cut smaller and incorporated. I had laid the pieces on top then covered them with cheese.

If you try this let me know how it works out for you.

I served it with homemade tomato soup.

Thnaks for visiting,

G.M.

Dollhouse Christmas

       It was high time I change the dollhouse 'decor' from Autumn to Christmas.

 The trees on the left light up, and the hard to see light posts on either side of the step are also supposed to but don't. They were bought at the dollar store so I took my chances.  M had fun sprinkling fake snow liberally about.

I think I'm about finished decorating.  

Thanks for coming by,    G.M.

Sunday

It is a cold and wet day and I have spent a quiet day reading and drinking tea.
I hope your day has also been a pleasant one.

Thanks for coming by,

Granny Marigold

Snickerdoodles

I don't think I've tried making Snickerdoodle cookies before this year. I saw the recipe on Karen's Kitchen ( Karen's blog--- Life is Good) and I made them a few weeks ago. They were delicious and disappeared fast. One of my sons suggested that I make them again and put a Rosebud chocolate in each, which I did when I made them yesterday. It worked fine except I added a little more flour than the recipe called for and the cookies are a little dry. Lesson learned... follow the recipe.  ( Those who know me are now grinning as I am famous for NOT following recipes).

The ingredient list on the Rosebud package makes it plain that they contain more than a few less-than-desirable ingredients.  I used them anyway. I suppose a plain old chunk of chocolate would also work.

The cookies have been sampled and declared delicious.  Thanks for posting that recipe, Karen.


Thanks for coming by,


Granny Marigold

New Glasses

DH had a potluck lunch to attend at the place he volunteers at. This is my effort at a Christmassy plate of sweets. He wasn't too sure about my idea of using some sprigs of Cedar .

This morning I took my prescription for new bifocals to a place in the local mall. A lovely young person was very helpful, directing me to the display of much less expensive frames ( regular ones were around $400) and for $149 I found ones I like. Although I tried on 3 pair I went with the first one.  I couldn't believe my good fortune. Now I have to wait 2 weeks to actually get them but it's a relief to have that settled.

Thanks for visiting,  G.M.

Neighbours

We have a neighbour who is---how shall I put this tactfully?- particular?  He usually puts on Christmas lights and nice decorations on his house. He has a tree in the front yard, maybe 20' tall which he has in the past decorated. This year he seems to have hired 2 young fellows to do this job for him. I've been watching them on and off and they don't seem to be getting much done as they are being watched ( and no doubt told what to do) by the house owner. I really do think these 2 guys wish they's never taken on the job.  later... the 2 young men have left having just done some pruning.  Will they be back to put up the lights or maybe not!!

On the subject of neighbours we have lost a dear elderly lady in her 93rd year.  Right until the end she kept her house, had a garden, and always looked so lovely. She had a string of pearls that she once told me she wore every day, and after that I made a point of looking when we met ( she was a walker too) and yes, she wore her pearls.

Just today I heard of  another elderly couple who live quite close by and who are putting their house up for sale and moving to an assisted living home.

The house next door to ours has sold and although it's a cute little house and the former owner put in new kitchen cabinets and painted  to fix it up for selling it has been bought by a couple who intend to tear it down and build a very large new house.    This is right beside us on the west side so we'll have even more shade than we already do. The neighbourhood sure is changing.

Thanks for coming by and reading my ramblings.


Granny Marigold

Poems

Many of you will remember this children's poem by Oliver Herford.  It was one of my kid's favourites.

I found another poem by this fellow and I hope you'll like it as much as I do.


           I heard a bird sing

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember

We are nearer to spring
Than we were in September
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December

 If I had come upon this poem just a few days sooner I could have posted it on Oliver Herford's birthday which was December 2  (1860).

It's another 16 days until the official start of winter and another 5 or 6 weeks after that that we begin to notice the gradual lengthening of the days.
We're having a week of cold clear days. Guess we won't know if our roof problem is fixed until the rains return.  Hopefully it won't leak.

I had my eyes checked this morning and now comes the dreaded job of going  to choose new frames. I'm always uncertain what I like and what "suits" me.

Thanks for coming by,   G,M,

Day 4

Oh My.  It's only the 4th day and I'm out of things to say?  It was such a peaceful and uneventful day.
A little housework, a bit of baking, some reading ( dipping in to Wind in the Willows),... life is made up of days such as this. I hope you had a wonderful day too.

Thanks for coming by,

    Granny M.

Christmas around the house

This little tree stands in a corner between the door to the laundry room ( on the left) and the one to the buttery. There's always someone walking through here and the tree, which had only battery-operated lights, looked too bare for M so he decided his bouncy ball collection would look great nestled in among the branches. Only trouble is the slightest nudge and they come tumbling down.

                               The teddy bears have their own little tree....

...and a garland that hangs over them. Connie, do you recognize the postcards you so kindly sent me?

This cushion comes out every Christmas. I found the wreath brooch (top, middle) this year and now all the squares are filled.

The birds are enjoying the suet. The picture was taken through the window and  isn't too clear but you can just see a couple of Bush Tits on the left.  Just a minute earlier there were so many of those tiny birds clinging to the wire. One minute they're there, the next they're gone.

Thanks for visiting today,

           Granny Marigold

Nativity

I told the grands we'd wait until December to put out the nativity sets and they were ready and waiting!  M always puts this one up. Until this year he would mischievously put baby Jesus on the roof. or a sheep in the manger. This year he declared himself too old for such antics ( I'm glad).
Those camels chained to one another are forever falling over but he patiently puts them back up.

This is our very old set, ordered from the Sears catalog many years ago. Surprisingly enough not one piece is chipped and the music box ( which plays Silent Night) still works.
Miss C. puts this one out and for some reason all the sheep are squished together. Must have been frightened  by the angelic hosts singing.

 We have a large cardboard one very much like this one but until my pear collection comes down there's no room to set it up.

Years ago a local church presented a live drive-through nativity which was amazing but unfortunately they  don't have it any longer. 

I hope you enjoyed a peek at our Christmas so far.

Granny M.